World beater: Local young boxer has sights set on stardom

Updated 11:13 pm, Monday, June 3, 2013

Local boxer Omar Bordoy trains at the Connecticut Academy of Kickboxing on White Street in Danbury.

Local boxer Omar Bordoy trains at the Connecticut Academy of Kickboxing on White Street in Danbury.

World beater: Local young boxer has sights set on stardom

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Omar Bordoy is like most kids who are getting ready to finish high school -- he's full of ambition and eager to take on the world.

And while the 18-year-old Danbury High student and aspiring boxer's goals may be a bit more lofty than most, he certainly seems to have the drive and dedication necessary to reach them.

"I see myself one day becoming a world champion, hopefully," Bordoy said during a break in the action at the Connecticut Academy of Kickboxing on White Street in Danbury, where Bordoy has been training relentlessly. "It's in God's hands."

Of course, Bordoy realizes that it won't be easy and he still has a long way to go. After all, they don't just hand out world title belts to everyone who wants one. If dreams came true that easily, half the kids in America would grow up to be big-league ballplayers or play in the Super Bowl.

No, the ones who ultimately achieve their goals are the ones who spend their lives working toward them -- and who were blessed with the natural talent necessary to be successful. Not everyone is built to be a world-champion boxer, but it's quite possible that Bordoy has all the tools.

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"He's well on his way," said Bennie "The Jet" Little Jr., a three-time world champion kickboxer and Bordoy's coach. "If he stays humble and stays focused like he is, he'll be very good.

"He's fast, that's the thing," Little said. "He's got very good eyes and he sees a lot of things. He boxes well.

"He's got a nasty left hook, and we've been working on his right, too."

Bordoy has posted a 6-2 record as an amateur and is preparing for his next fight, which is scheduled for Saturday in Bridgeport against an opponent to be named. He has been training with Little for about a year -- and he's become a fixture in Little's gym.

"That shows me how bad he really wants it -- him being here all the time," Little said.

Bordoy entered a state tournament in South Windsor in January as a novice fighting in the 152-pound weight class against a boxer with far more experience. Nonetheless, Bordoy won, and it was then he realized that he has real potential in the sport.

"Since I won the state championship, it opened my eyes more," Bordoy said. "When I won that, it made me want to win more things but at higher levels."

From there, he competed in a regional championship in Lake Placid, N.Y. He fought and lost to a fighter with more than 60 fights under his belt. Chalk it up as another learning experience and a stepping stone to success.

"If you learn from your loss, you actually gain more from it than you would have by winning," Little said. "Some people don't understand that."

Bordoy's more immediate goal is to repeat as the state champion. That's the first step. After that comes the regionals, then the nationals, then, down the road, perhaps the in the New York Golden Gloves and the Olympics.

"That's one of my goals is to get him to the Olympics," Little said. "That's just an exclamation point on everything. That will get you all the recognition in the world. Every promoter in the world will want to come up to you."

And Little is speaking from experience. A Danbury native, he has spent a lifetime in the ring as a fighter, coach and official. He's proud to be coaching a kid from Danbury who is, in many ways, following in his footsteps.

"It's a small town, but there is a lot of talent here," Little said.

"People need to respect Danbury and represent it to the fullest. Everyone thinks of Connecticut as being a rich state and they think of us as being kind of soft.

"That's how they look at us. If you go to a competition, whether it's boxing, kickboxing or mixed martial arts, they look down upon you, so it's like a little more work for you to do."